#fest: soulmate

[taekookfests]

soulmate fest - fic reveals season 1

raging oceans, blazing infernos by going_slightly_mads (Sanashiya) [link] 83k Words | Completed | Explicit

Love is not enough.

We need proof.

Sometimes, the simplest truths are the hardest to accept.

Taehyung doesn't know which is the hardest: accepting the fact that Jungkook isn't his soulmate, or accepting that he might be, and that he fucked up their whole relationship for nothing.

Souls Unlocked by Borataekookie [link] 43.6k Words | Completed | Explicit

Soulmates, they share the same fingerprint. It's not easy to figure out who owns the other half of a soul. Many give up, can't wait forever for a fluke of meeting them and get to know about their fingerprints in a legal way. 

Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jeongguk, however, don't like each other at all. So what will happen when secretary Jeon unlocks CEO Kim's phone by accident and finds out that they're soulmates?

A Thousand Years by KookieAddict [link] 38.9k Words | Completed | Explicit

Two souls meant to intertwine.

Two voices meant to blend together.

Two princes meant for each other.

In a world where you hear your soulmate sing to you, Taehyung and Jungkook have waited five years to finally find each other. And when it happens at a ball, when their eyes meet for the first time, they irrevocably fall in love.

Colliding by kingtaevan [link] 38k Words | Completed | Mature

Jeon Jungkook had all his life planned, he cared about money and nothing more. Taehyung is a single parent that is living his life care free with his little angel, everything changed for both when one day, their paths collide, changing their own perspectives in everything they know.

Yuanfen : Our Ever After by TaetaesKookies (BookAddiction) [link] 35.4k Words | Completed | Mature

𝕐𝕦𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕟 :

𝔸 𝕗𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣.

Being born as a child of Destiny is never an easy thing. Being born a child Destiny but being unable to even think of filling those shoes is even harder. Taehyung was supposed to be the next coven leader, yet he destroyed all his parents expectations and hope when he came of age, only to never summon his familiar.

However not all was lost when he found his little family of misfits. A place to call home high in the mountains away from everyones eyes. And even better was finding that one person who was made to completely the other half of his soul.

Except, just the teeny, tiny problem. His soulmate was a Dragon... And his familiar. How did that work out?

Maybe Memories by ohsehunseoul [link] 34.5k Words | Completed | Mature

When Taehyung got stepped on over and over again throughout his life, he didn't improve himself for the better -- he became the kind of person he hated the most. His life consisted of taking anything he could get and tossing people to the side like it was nothing.

Cue Taehyung meeting Jeongguk. As soon as Taehyung found out they were soulmates, he didn't get his act together. Instead, Taehyung decided to use Jeongguk for everything he is worth, get Jeongguk to fall in love with him, and break his heart. It would be what Taehyung did best. Plus, destroying Jeongguk's trust would be incredibly satisfying. Soulmates truthfully meant nothing and it's not like Taehyung would actually end up liking Jeongguk in the end.

The innocent guy Taehyung laid eyes on in a retro video game store was the perfect project for him.

Make It To Me. by symphonic_army [link] 28.7k Words | Completed | Explicit

"The evidence of destiny was given to me.

You're the source of my dream, take it, take it.

My hand reaching out to you is my chosen fate."

DNA - BTS

Hidden marks and broken hearts by Btsbangtan7 [link] 22.1k Words | Completed | Mature

Idol Taehyung has a photoshoot, his Soulmate tattoo on display which just recently appeared so his fans doesn't know about it yet. Photographer Jk is stunned seeing the same one on his skin, happy about that his favorite idol is his Soulmate, when he was about to tell him he heard Taehyung say things about not wanting a soulmate, loves it more to be free and independent, Jungkook is left heartbroken... But their paths cross again and Taehyung who doesn't know that he is his Soulmate just wants to have fun with him.

metanoia through the blossoms by bluegreytk [link] 18.6k Words | Completed | Explicit

In a world where your soulmate's bruises show up on your body as flower tattoos, model Taehyung is plagued with having to cover new tattoos week after week. Once it becomes clear what type of activities his soulmate must be involved in, Taehyung decides that they can go to hell.

On Fire (For Your Love) by saraborahae [link] 18k Words | Completed | Teen and Up

Taehyung's soulmate tattoo was beautiful, the purple roses still fresh in Jungkook's memory. As his own 18th birthday approaches, he wonders which he dreads seeing more: the burnt-out version of that same tattoo, meaning he really did lose his soulmate that day; or a different design entirely, meaning they were never really soulmates at all.

Sweet Soul (Who am I kidding, you're a fu*king tease!) by Borataekookie [link] 16.6k Words | Completed | Explicit

Taehyung regretted moving to Japan as soon as he heard his soulmate's voice for the first time. He's Korean, living in Seoul, the city he had left not too long ago.

Keeping their identity a secret, except for their first names, both want to wait until they can finally meet in person to get to know each other better. It's more exciting this way.

An opportunity for Taehyung to move back to Seoul is going to change their lives forever. However, Jeongguk is unaware of it, thinking Taehyung is still in Japan.

Loveless by kalleninlove [link] 11.9k Words | Completed | Teen and Up

Government worker Taehyung still hasn't found his soulmate despite being an official matchmaker. He doesn't think much about it until a new memo from work immediately suspends him for remaining Loveless when he's about to turn 30! Now, he needs to apply to be matched for a soulmate himself to save his job, but that will mean months of suspension. So Taehyung comes up with a plan to fix things—even if it means pretending to date his high school enemy, Jeon Jungkook.

Or

There’s a very thin line between hate and love.

Maybe this long-standing feud between Taehyung and Jungkook was just them denying their attraction to each other all along.

End Credits: Not Even The Stars Shine As Bright as You by URbeluvdmayuass [link] 11.3k Words | Completed | Explicit

Chasing dreams like I'm on novocain

Jeongguk hallucinates the pain of his soulmate. He chases the dreams like mist, only for it to dissipate. Kim Taehyung is so hard to reach.

Screaming through your airways

Taehyung is induced into a coma he can't wake up from. He has given up. In his darkness he finds peace in the golden dreams of his soulmate. Borrowed happy times he doesn't want to escape.

Looking back, I almost thought I heard you say

Namjoon dies inside everyday, from illness and from suffering. His bookshop is what holds him down but Jeongguk seems to nullify everything. Seeing him growing farther each day tug on his heart strings.

Stay, you're not gonna leave me

Hoseok's soulmate is someone else but he loves someone else. He reflects the pain of his dying love, Namjoon. Each time he looks at his face.

Let Me Love You by the_sevensins [link] 10.2k Words | Completed | Mature

His smile is huge, his heart swell with happiness. He feels euphoric. Talking to his soulmate gives him a warm sensation, hope blooming in his heart.

𝑊ℎ𝑦? 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒? 𝑁𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑇𝑎𝑒. 

Taehyung’s heart leaped up in joy at the last word. He feels a surge of happiness but that’s short-lived once he realizes what the boy said. A wave of sadness overcomes him and he weeps a silent tear. 

𝑌𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟.

Or

Where Taehyung is upset and hurt because of getting no response from his soulmate for five years. He writes to him daily, wishing for a reply, for a tingly warmth on his skin but to no avail.

Until one rainy night, the words "𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑚𝑒, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒" appears on his wrist, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Golden lilies by noctalgia [link] 9.4k Words | Completed | Mature

Resigned to a lonely life of solitude with nothing more than the echo of his other half, Taehyung doesn't have much hope of finding his soulmate. Jungkook, on the other hand, seems to be a mystery, a person who doesn't appear to consider soulmates at all.

Sent from the Stars by MB1000 [link] 8.2k Words | Completed | Teen and Up

Ever since he was eighteen years old, Taehyung thought he didn't have a soulmate.

He had never received a tattoo.

Never had the marking of fate etched onto his skin.

Until one day, his soulmate falls from the sky.

Quite literally too....

 a soulmate who wasn’t meant to be. by URbeluvdmayuass [link] 7.6k Words | Completed | Mature

Jeongguk held on to his hypothesis of Kim Taehyung being still alive and well, somewhere in the world, he is still there because the name he carries on the wrist didn’t fade but it darkened with time. This is no simple tattoo, this name, Kim Taehyung, is written on Jeon Jeongguk’s skin with fate’s ink, no less but Fate herself.

Fate never lies, he is still alive and it’s a sign that must be pursued.

Sigh No More by AM1119 [link] 6k Words | Completed | Explicit

Jungkook finally hears the bells that he has waited for.

When I’m With You by Blue4miles [link] 5.5k Words | Completed | Mature

Both the Kims and the Jeons have been known to be the two most powerful families. But who is the better one? They've been rivals for years and that rivalry continued with the heirs of both families - Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook. All they've known is to hate the other except there's this undeniable tension they have when together. Then they both discover their soulmates one night, a rare but special occurrence. Will the love blooming between them be strong enough to end their rivalry, or will they let their families' influence decide their fate?

wild goose chase by sugadtae [link] 5k Words | Completed | General Audience

Fate has a funny way of connecting soulmates, especially if she thinks you’re taking too long to find yours. This time, Jeongguk is the heart of her desire, the lucky subject to be faced with the Soulmate Goose.

or

"soulmate au where one person finds a goose who leads them to the other person. the difficulty comes in not being mauled by the goose"

what binds us by 00_EVY_00 [link] 3.1k Words | Completed | Teen and Up

Taehyung, the God of Fate, doesn't know what the tingling feeling on his finger is.

With the ghost of you by A_SpringBlossom [link] 2.8k Words | Completed | Teen and Up

Somewhere in the depths of the underworld, in a place where the sun never shines, where laughter can never be heard, where smiles are foreign, the witches of fate reside. In a place so dark and void of joy that no one can thrive there except the witches of fate. And in this darkness, they spin their webs of cruelty, made out of threads of each human life. They spin the threads, play with the threads and when they’re entertained enough, they cut the threads.

Or

Jungkook finds out who his soulmate is. Was.

(a huge thanks to @/ninevoo1 who helped me compile these fics!)

[hitlikehammers]

Steddie Missed Connection AU

feat. Craigslist-trawling-wingwoman!Robin + earnest-LA-transplant!Steve + rockstar!Eddie ✨ inspired by this actual Craigslist love story

It’s always about a 50/50 shot when Robin starts making her little back-of-the-throat squealing noises. Up to a certain pitch, Steve could pretend he had his AirPods on noise cancellation mode.

Once she reached fire-alarm-screeching levels, it overrode the settings and boom: he lost his fall guy.

Thanks, Apple.

But that’s where they are, and the squealing plus the screen in her hands, plus the way her leg’s bouncing against the table they’re both sitting at—which would have overrrode Steve’s AirPod excuse in about a minute because she’s gonna start splashing his glass of orange juice in a hot second—but all of it lumped together?

He’s lucky he’s retained his athletic reflexes post-high school—maybe only because of being joined-at-the-hip with this particular platonic soulmate, really—because by the time she’s swinging her iPad from its case to plop right down in front of him?

At least he’s quick enough to save his overnight oats from becoming aluminum-flavored when she drops the goddamn thing down without warning—caseless, the heathen—and makes indecipherable noises Steve thinks he’s maybe only heard at the zoo as she taps her nail with an migraine-inducing click on the screen.

Steve…supposes this means he’s obligated to look.

He sighs, fully expecting a dumb meme or a ‘cute TikTok’ because he knows who he fucking lives with; he reaches across the table and unfolds his glasses—really, assaulting him with this before he can even get his contacts in…

And it’s a…webpage. Like: just a webpage. A boring webpage, even. Definitely not matching up with the…squealing and table-sized earthquake of bouncing knees. He squints, tries to make it make sense.

Oh. Wow. He didn’t…

Steve did not actually know Craigslist still existed, let alone that people still used it. He was pretty sure the things for sale were always just kidnapping plots with extra steps, and then also that finding a person you walked past that one time was an FYP problem to solve. But.

Here, in front of him, in black and white and honestly like no other color:

Steve squints; it was posted this morning, but only just. Like 4am. So the last afternoon for there to be a one o’clock hour was—

Yesterday.

His yesterday was uneventful. Went shopping with Robs. Filled up the freezer and overbought shit again so they had a kind of massive and wholly mismatched dinner with the leftovers nearly popping open the fridge door. Can’t take the Midwesterner out of the man or woman, apparently.

Definitely nothing like the day this poor soul on a maybe-less-dead-than-presumed website had had. But Steve won’t pretend his heart doesn’t clench a little when he finishes reading because…it’s cheesy.

But Steve’s always been into that romantic…stuff.

“That’s very sweet,” he lands on commenting before passing the tablet back to Robin, who’s staring at him with frankly terrifying eyes. Like: lost-your-fucking-mind eyes.

“Steven.”

“What?”

“Steven.”

“Robin.”

He won’t even pretend he doesn’t jump with the metal slams on the wood where Robin narrowly misses flipping his bowl of sadly-abandoned oats with her iPad again when she slaps it down in from of him and points frantically yet again.

“Look at the location.”

Steve tilts his head.

Oh. He’d just looked at the time. And it’s not like the location in the title was…unique on its own.

“Huh,” he huffs with a shrug when he sees their part of the city listed in the main link up top. “Coinkydink.”

Robin’s growl starts deep, like a diaphragmatic thrum and Steve would be terrified of her if she were anyone else.

As it is: he’s only mildly unsettled. Specifically because the growl rumbles so…long.

Like at least a minute before she screams bloody fucking murder:

“My hair was in the buns!”

And the way she screeches it, and the maniacal twitch of those eyes…she’s saying more than those words, with those words.

Which means Steve has to put in effort to follow her coded message style of communicating, fucking hell. He hasn’t even eaten his breakfast.

He tries to think it through, at least manages to down his glass of OJ so it can’t be a sacrifice to flying iPads when he thinks he…

“Wait.”

Steve frowns. Robin just blinks.

“You don’t,” he shakes his head, or starts to, it’s a slow motion thing; “you don’t like honestly think,” but even as he’s saying it, the look in her eyes starts to make sense, and answers for him:

“This is not about me.”

Because: seriously.

“We were laughing!” Robin is immediate with her rebuttal, still in her screeching era. “No one else was there!”

“Because we specifically time our shopping for when people are at lunch on a weekday,” Steve counters quick, tries to cut her off at the pass; “a statistically slow window of opportunity for us to debate the list!”

“We write the list to avoid debating,” Robin answers in a more sedate, be reasonable now, dingus tone before she shakes her head and scowls and:

“Stop distracting me!”

Yep, back to the screeching.

“Why were you even on that fucking site?” Steve sighs as he crosses his arms and leans back in his chair.

“Steven,” Robin says again in that fucking tone that always means he’s missing the biggest, far-more-important point but does jack shit to help him find it.

“Robina.”

“Not my name, eww.”

“Well, now you know how I feel when you make up a middle name for me,” Steve sticks his tongue out very maturely to her scrunched up face: “they’re never even nice ones,” he adds, because they’re really not; “and I do know that was your next move so,” he smacks his hands opposite the screen on the table in front of him in victory as he crows:

“Denied.”

“This isn’t basketball,” Robin’s working her tongue around her lips inside her mouth, which is always deadly foreshadowing; “you didn’t block my shot or whatever—“

“Didn’t I?” Steve pushes because, well, one, he did, and two, the original conversation was absurd even for them.

“Maybe it was so empty because his security was there.”

Steve frowns. The tone’s too…even. No. No: too haughty.

“The fuck does that mean?”

“I said he looked like a rockstar,” she leans to grab back her tablet and poke near the top, obviously switching browser tabs: “so I did some digging.”

“Robin, what city do we live in?” Steve asks as she works, because yes, Steve remembers seeing a very hot fucking dude staring less in their direction than looking dumbstruck-lost as hell, and he’d considered walking over to ask if he needed help—Midwestern transplant to the bone—which was accompanied by the stray I’d fuck that gorgeous toothpick silly, but in the paper product aisle, like on the 48-count pack of Charmin, he looks soft under all that leather—then both thoughts were swiftly abandoned when the toothpick’s eyes met Steve’s and Steve maybe had to force himself to finish laughing at a joke he can’t remember now, that Robin told, because his skin felt like it was burning a little except the sun had poked behind a cloud, and his throat, it had like, it had just, it—

It just felt…weird.

He does remember that.

“But we don’t see rockstars every day,” which is fair, their neighborhood in particular is less music biz than others.

“Plus, look at this!”

Then she’s shoving the iPad back in front of Steve: it’s a TMZ shot or some other pap photo that’s more than half blur. It is indeed the parking lot at their Costco. And it does…feature a toothpick-esque figure looking similar to the one Steve remembers, but it’s more from the back than the side. And like, anyone can wear that much black in the summer. It’s a free country.

“And look at him!”

She split-screens to a Wikipedia article about a band even Steve’s heard of, if not for listening to them himself. It…he glances at the paparazzi shot.

Lead guitarist of Corroded Coffin Sighted Getting Groceries Just Like Normal People in Mar—

And then he looks back to the wiki: okay. Same band name. The guy with the guitar in the photo looks…

He has the same hair.

“Don’t tell me it’s just coincidence.”

Steve rolls his eyes.

“It is just coincidence.”

“Steve.”

Steve feels his face sour.

“I know that tone,” because he does. It never leads to things he enjoys.

“You’ve thought about him.”

“He was gorgeous,” Steve thinks he surprises her with his honesty but like, what does he have to gain by lying? Plus:

“LA’s is like the plastic surgery capital of the fucking world, it’d be kinda sad if a lot of people generally weren’t pretty.”

“He wasn’t that kind of pretty.”

And fuck if they don’t share a brain cell; fuck if she doesn’t see right through him.

“And that’s not why you’ve been thinking about him.”

And fuck if she doesn’t know Steve, far too well.

“I never once said I’d been thinking about,” he hears the words and knows they’re weak, goddamnit.

“You never had to,” Robin smiles a little and taps an annoying finger at the screen again, that’a somehow flipped right back to the Craigslist ad thingy.

And she’s actually not entirely right, because he hadn’t thought much about the gorgeous toothpick man with curls Steve wanted to be smothered by, suffocate in like a pillow. But when he did?

He’d thought most about how he looked soft, on the inside. Thought wild and idiotic things like maybe his soft could match Steve’s soft when no one else’s ever had and he was always left bruised for it, more than once near-unhealable, and maybe they could, like, if their softnesses matched, then like—

Something.

But Steve always comes on too strong, wants too much, hopes to hard and way too fast, though this shit might take the cake, there: so it was idiotic and he’d left that train of thought to derail on its own and—

Did that come on too strong?

His gaze snags on the words, those exact words up on the screen and he’s very tempted to start growling deep in the pit of his stomach, take a cue from Robin’s absurdity.

“Don’t you have a class to get to?” Steve asks, looking pointedly at the clock on the microwave: he knows she does. Pottery making. For self-edification.

She scowls but looks—swears colorfully because it’s later than she thought as she jumps up and goes to presumably…do whatever she does in the bathroom to get ready to leave and look her lesbian-luring best before she gets smattered in wet clay.

Steve remains unclear on whether that look’s more or less attractive to the specific ladies she’s trying to bait.

Either way: it prompts Robin to drop her one-woman campaign insisting Steve’s soulmate of the romantic flavor is calling our desperately into the void of the internet. But it also, however, has the…side-effect of making the time itself an obvious thing. 11:09.

Rob’s gonna take the car, she’s got…supplies and stuff.

Why that’s important is…lost on him.

He could debase himself and brave the bus, if he got off at Washington and—

What the fuck.

What. The. Fuck.

Steve very forcefully shoves Robin’s iPad back across the table and doesn’t think about anything, especially not the numbers, like the number 214, like two hours and fourteen minutes until—

Steve nearly chokes himself on his fucking spoon with how violently he shoves it, full of oats, between his lips. As if he can shut his brain up as easy as he can his mouth.

It…actually kinda works. He might have chipped a tooth.

——————

In the end, Steve is proud of himself for being reasonable and having standards. He doesn’t take a fucking bus to meet a stranger in a Costco parking lot, Jesus Christ. Come on.

He books an Uber.

(And yes, he and Robin agreed no solo Ubers for a month to save up to have the air conditioner looked at before it copped out on them because their landlord only gave a shit if it was dead-dead and yes, maybe she’d gone so far as to put their account on a hold you had to call and remove to avoid temptation—though of the two of them, she definitely had the bigger problem—but little did she think on the fact that while you had to link a phone number, you could just use Google Voice and make a new account and no, Steve’s not insane, or a hopeless romantic, or almost-asking-for-heartbreak-on-the-regular, thank you very much.

He is resourceful. And it’s only like $15 with tip. It’s a quick ride.)

He asks to be dropped near the back of the lot, and takes the walk up slow. Almost goes the long way, straight into the store. Almost turns back entirely.

But then he sees those curls.

And his throat does the…the weird tight thing for no fucking reason, and his feet don’t ask permission to walk in the direction of the man standing…less dumbstruck, now. Even from the back it’s clear.

Now: he’s waiting.

Steve can barely breathe, can’t fucking swallow for the state of his throat, but his feet still aren’t waiting for permission, so it’s only fucking seconds before he’s close enough to catch a whiff of cologne and then—

“Sorry,” Steve ducks around the man from behind and reaches out automatically to steady him when he startles. “Hey, sorry, you just looked like maybe you were looking for something?” Steve smiles as open, as reassuring as he knows. “Just wanted to check if you needed any help.”

Keep it casual, Steve, keep it fucking friendly and extra polite and—

“Oh my god.”

The guy barely breathes it out, his eyes so wide, and Steve doesn’t know why he hasn’t moved his hand from the guy’s arm but Steve can feel the electric current that runs through him, like the finest grade of trembling. And electricity, right, it travels. Conducts.

In case you felt your heart skip just one beat, didn’t even have to full-on stop—

And even that proximity to this man is nothing compared to hearing his voice, low and a little syrupy even as he stares in shock, in disbelief—and oh. Oh, but what was it the guy had written in his post? About feeling the earth move a little, or like, rewiring your cells just for meeting eyes?

Steve, he’s…

Yeah. Yeah.

Okay.

“You’re here.”

Steve blinks, rocked back to the moment to deal with the new tilt of the globe and the spontaneous realignment of his insides later. This guy’s looking at Steve like he’s unbelievable, like he’s miraculous, like he’s…

Sunshine.

“I’m here?” Steve asks, a little breathy, a little curious.

“I,” the guy swallows, lips shiny as he bites at them, fucking adorable; “I saw you, umm, yesterday and I maybe, well, possibly I wrote some,” he fumbles and sounds like he’s building up to eventual hysterics, so Steve acts wholly on instinct and reaches further now to catch at both his hands.

“Relax,” Steve breathes out with a smile, and doesn’t overthink smoothing his thumbs over the guy’s knuckles, just in case it soothes him.

“My friend,” Steve lets go with one hand and grabs his phone to show the page he’d loaded on the ride here; “she was convinced it was you, about me. I wasn’t, so,” he shakes his head quick when something falls in the guy’s face, something dims: oh, umm, no.

He cannot have that.

“Not trying to catch you out or something,” Steve exhales it warm, as reassuring as he can, with his whole chest as he grabs the guy’s hands in both his own again—since he seemed to not mind; “just,” and Steve shrugs even as he smiles a little, less self-deprecating with it than he’d probably have landed on if the guy hadn’t reacted to Steve’s hands on his by clinging back so tight:

“Just a little hard to believe, is all.”

The man barely lets the words settle before his jaw drops almost comically and he demands, high-pitched and somehow still rumbling, something commanding in it nonetheless:

“How?”

Like it’s unimaginable. Like Steve reading that post and walking into this lot and striding up to a perfect stranger—who may or may not be very famous but that’s actually not even a little bit of the point—but a stranger who would want to see him—

But then Steve’s meeting the guy’s eyes again; hadn’t wholly realized he’d been staring at their hands more than anything. Those eyes are like the night sky, swirling and endless and sparking in the right slant of light, and Steve feels them like a welcome, like a cushion of the stars, like a safe landing in a chaotic universe.

He doesn’t even know this man.

But he thinks…yesterday. Yesterday, his heart didn’t stop, not like this guy had written, but Steve understands now what it did do instead, the thing he did remember, the tightness in his throat: his heart didn’t stop.

It just surged upward and took up residence to pound at his trachea where it tripped instead. Which is kinda where he’s back to right now.

“Could I,” the guy’s voice is rough, shaky, and so is he, Steve feels it where he’s still got his hand gripped firm; “would it be too much to ask if I could hug you?”

And he huffs a breath, and it sounds too….too small, like he’s afraid or ashamed and it pings something hateful, but so much more protective in Steve’s blood just to hear it as he confesses on a end of an exhale:

“I just want to know if you’re real.”

And Steve didn’t grow up a hugger, but he sure as shit’s grown into one; he’d be one of those people standing in the city with a ‘Free Hugs’ sign without much convincing. But this guy.

This man in front of him who may or may not be famous, is definitely a stranger either way save that he poured out some lines on the internet that maybe exceeded the term ‘heartfelt’ by a mile, who may or may not be standing in here, inside this moment, for something like fate because…Steve did feel it.

Maybe he didn’t think twice about the immensity it could have, not in the moment, because he’d been shopping, and Robin’s story was funny and maybe he was just struck by his luck in living a life with his platonic soulmate and knowing joy; surely your heart can trip for that and just because it never had before, just because it did this one first time when he crossed eyes with a genuinely beautiful man who left Steve with half-a-second’s certainty that looking any longer would flay wide this unknown person’s soul for Steve to sift through: but Steve felt things like that easy, always had. Romanticized nothings like it was a profession.

But it never hit like this had, has—is—before, if indeed this is actually anything—

And Steve’s heart is still tripping but it’s back in his chest, and he knows it because where he’s pressed against this guy’s kinda-gasping chest, now, close and tight? Maybe Steve’s never paid attention before, or maybe Steve’s just never…touched like this before, even if all they’re doing is hugging in a fucking parking lot.

But.

He’s pressed there and his heart’s tripping in his chest and he knows it wholly and fully because he can feel this man’s heartbeat next to his own—and where it should be a battle, because it’s pounding, both of them are, one side literally against the other?

It feels like a caress. It feels like, like…

Steve closes his eyes tight because they start to sting with the single word it feels like: impossible, absurd, but…

Here he is. He’s never felt someone’s heartbeat pressed up against his own before. Definitely never felt—never dreamt—that it could feel like it fits.

He leans back when he thinks he’s got a hold on the hopelessness of his tender-hearted absurdity, but the guy is staring at him already when he does and suddenly Steve’s got a handle on absolutely nothing except his pulse jackrabbiting some more but then also feeling…like it lost something. Like it’s not complete.

And the man, he’s staring with those eyes so wide again but now it’s like he’s…it’s kinda like he knows. He knows his eyes are going to let Steve flay him wide open.

It’s like he’s begging Steve to…look. To look and less to take, and more to…have.

Maybe, maybe to keep?

And…how?

“Do you feel it?” the guy whispers, those deep dark eyes so big: just these vulnerable, bleeding hearts on main. “Even just—“ he tries to walk back, to open it all up wider, desperate and hopeful and Steve hears all of it because it’s all written in the same key as all that Steve knows, all that Steve is. Somehow.

Somehow.

So Steve blinks, too many times before he grabs the man harder and drags him in again to hold, hold, hold until the heartbeat on either side of Steve’s ribs is reaching for the other, touching. Until they’re holding on, too, and once they do, then he can whisper, warm and maybe wet in the crook of this man’s neck, this stranger who’s holding onto his heart now, unfathomable, as he speaks words he doesn’t have to think about first to know they’re going to shift the world again, this time so they both can know it in the souls of them together, all at once:

“I feel it.”

For @hbyrde36, who requested 'Missed Connection AU' at my HOBBIT-STYLE BIRTHDAY MONTH PROMPT FEST

✨permanent tag list: OPEN (lmk if you want to be added/removed): @pearynice @hbyrde36 @slashify @finntheehumaneater @wxrmland @dreamwatch @perseus-notjackson @estrellami-1 @bookworm0690 @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @nerdyglassescheeseychick @swimmingbirdrunningrock @goodolefashionedloverboi @sanctumdemunson @theheadlessphilosopher @lawrencebshoggoth

divider credits here and here

💫 ao3 link here

[hp-soulmates]

HP Soulmates Fest: R3D STRING EDITION

HP Soulmates Fest is back! Thank you to everyone who voted in the poll. This year we will be running HP Soulmonths with weekly prompts and an open AO3 collection. Feel free to combine prompts, swap prompts, or rearrange them. This will be a very chill round this year! We hope to encourage a wider range of soulmates tropes and ships. And, don't worry, the standard fest format will probably be returning next year! See the schedule and guidelines below:

💞 SCHEDULE 2024 💞

Soulmate AUgust

Aug 4-10: Red string | lightning era | fate Aug 11-17: Rival soulmates | rare pair | second chances Aug 18-24: Soulmarks & tattoos | marauders era | snitch Aug 25-31: Countdown clock | sapphic | butterbeer

Soultember

Sep 1-7: Sharing is caring* | Gaaaaaaay | discombobulated Sep 8-14: Platonic soulmates | older characters | annual Sep 15-21: Soulbonds & bonding | polycule | switch Sep 22-28: Reincarnation | next gen era | language of flowers

Bonus Prompts

WILDCARD: First words | cross gen ship | ghosts

*Shared dreams, thoughts, memories, emotions, pain, etc.

💞 GUIDELINES 💞

Participants must be 18+ and abide by the Three Laws of Fandom: DLDR, YKINMK, and SALS.

This fest is open to all ships, characters, and themes related to the HP universe.

Works must incorporate the concept of SOULMATES in some way. It can be minor or brief but must be present.

Works may include explicit, dark, or Dead Dove content as long as they are properly tagged and content warnings are utilized.

Works must be new and created for HP Soulmates Fest. However, feel free to combine this with other fests as long as it is also okay with them.

We are accepting fic, art, podfic, craft, meta, headcanons, playlists, moodboards, bookbinding, and a whole range of mediums for this fest!

WIPs are okay, but completed works are encouraged.

The use of AI is not allowed.

Prompts can be combined, switched around, or skipped altogether. The only requirement is soulmates!

When uploading, please add your work to the HP Soulmates Fest 2024 collection on AO3. This is an open collection and will open Aug 1. The collection will close Oct 31 to allow for any late entries.

If also posting on Tumblr, please mention us @hp-soulmates and use the tag #hp soulmates 2024. We will reblog!

AO3 Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HP_Soulmates_Fest_2024

Get creative, get inspired, get bonded! We can't wait to see what amazing soulmates creations are submitted this year 💞

— Your mods,

@anaxandria-writes, @drwhoisginnyholmes, @lumosatnight, @quackquackcey

[hp-soulmates-secret-santa]

Soulmates Secret Santa 2024 🥂🎇🎄🌿💏💕

We're happy to announce the HP Soulmates Secret Santa is returning for it's second year!! In association with the HP Soulmates Fest Discord Server, this is an anonymous fanfiction exchange focused on your favorite Harry Potter couples, whoever they may be --- as soulmates! We're a fun and friendly bunch, and we hope you'll join us this year 🥰

💝 2024 Schedule 💝

🧧 Sign-Ups: September 7-September 29 🧧 Works Due: December 1 🧧 Works Revealed: December 26-January 6

Rules, FAQ, and important links will be posted soon, but if you'd like to get a sneak peak, you can always check out our Ao3 Collection page. Follow our Tumblr or join the Discord for updates! We're so happy to have you here!

[galacticlarry]

Can't Imagine You Without The Same Smile In Your Eyes

by galactic_larry

Alternate Universe | Alternate Universe - Soulmates | Soulmates | Alternate Universe - College/University | Strangers to Lovers | Friends to Lovers | Fluff | Past Lives | Reincarnation | 4k

It’s been over a week since Harry’s first semester at university began, and he has had zero new exciting friendships or noteworthy experiences, just a bizarre dream that keeps waking him up in the middle of the night.

What happens when the boy with the pretty blue eyes from his psychology class catches his eye and starts occupying his mind?

Written for the @1d-flower-fest

[bridenore]

HP Soulmates 2023 recs

Here are some of my favorite fics from @hp-soulmates 2023. Listed in alphabetical order.

A pulled down shade by fast_brother [43k]

Harry does not like Draco Malfoy, not even one bit. Never did and never will. That is, until he finds himself married to him.

Sparks by @annanother-thing [20k]

“I’m sorry,” Draco turned to him, “are we boring you?” Greg looked up. “No, I’m just hungry, and you’re taking far too long to just tell them that you and Potter are soulmates. Do you have to be this dramatic?” There was a moment of silence, before all hell broke loose. Harry didn't know soulmates existed until he was fourteen. He wasn't sure what he imagined it would be like, but he knew it wasn't this. But that's not to say he didn't like it.

tell me where it ends by SquibNation10 [62k]

After Harry wakes from his short-lived death, he begins to see red strings tied around the fingers of everyone he sees. No one else seems to be able to see them. He is surprised to see who is (or isn't) tied to each other. His is tied to Draco Malfoy.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did!

[comfortficfest]

Here you are:

IN ALL YOUR GORGEOUS COLOURS: I promise that I'll love you by @loudloudlove (E-39k)

Soulmate au where you see the world in black-and-white until you meet your soulmate.

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: The HP Soulmates Fest (Twitter)

The HP Soulmates Fest 2023:

Unavoidable Fate by BlueZeldana - E, WIP - Since his third year at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy saw images of him and the same curly-haired girl every time he looked in his crystal ball. The leaves of his tea always formed the letter H and the stars told him the same fate each night. It took him years, but he finally accepted it. She was his soulmate and the only woman he wanted by his side.He only had one problem: Hermione Granger thought Divination was a fraud.

The Immortal Draco Malfoy by SaffronGin - M, WIP - With no memory of who he is, the man-with-no-name seeks to find what he has lost. In his wake, he leaves the bodies of the Dark Wizards that dared get in his way.A kind wizard, Harry Potter is accidentally saved, and takes it upon himself to redeem the bloody stranger, and to help him chase his past so he can have a decent future.However, the nameless wizard doesn't count on Harry Potter's wife to feel like a light in his neverending darkness.

By All Rights Mine by sundayviolet - E, WIP - When Voldemort survived at the Battle of Hogwarts years ago, the Order was forced to retreat and regroup. The secret to Voldemort’s demise lies within Malfoy Manor, but gaining access has proven impossible, until Hermione discovers a way past its wards: Conceive a Malfoy child. (WARNINGS: RAPE/NON-CON)

Reluctantly Yours by art_emissss - T, WIP - Granger,I'm sorry that it's me.D.M.Or: A story of two soulmates, told through a stack of letters found among personal belongings of Hermione Jean Granger.

The Otter and Her Dragon by nissasxnotes - T, WIP - Hermione Granger is always running from the things that scare her in her dreams - nightmares, more accurately. However, one night, she finds a dragon who makes her feel safe and protected. Throughout her life, she continues seeing the dragon on some of the most challenging days in her life. She is left wondering why the dragon shows up when he does and why she feels safe when the dragon is there.  - - - Draco Malfoy's life is perfect. He is a pureblood of the Sacred 28 and heir to the Malfoy legacy. There is nothing that could make him question his life. Until, one night, an otter appears in his dreams claiming he saved her. And then, the otter keeps appearing in his dreams. He can't figure out why, but feels like he he has to protect the otter from whatever is trying to hurt her.

misunderstandings and other problems by riddikulus_puff - M, one-shot - soulmate noun a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.-Hermione Granger had been searching high and low, behind closed doors and through open windows for the person that would be labelled as her soulmate. The person that could be labelled as her soulmate. She had tried almost everything. She ran tests on herself and secretly performed tests on others in search of finding her soulmate. The person she was destined to be with for the rest of her life. But, still couldn't find anyone that suited her. Ronald Weasley was a blank slate. The same was for Harry Potter and the other Weasley brothers that she had run the tests on. However, Hermione hadn't expected herself to get closer to Draco Malfoy through their work together at the Ministry of Magic. And even the tests she'd run said he wasn't her soulmate, but Crookshanks, her familiar, knew better than anyone who would be better suited for his Hermione Granger.

it's getting colder by aCanadianMuggle - M, WIP - Hermione has been researching soulmates since she found out hers had died before she had a chance to meet them. Harry, who's been working as an auror since graduation, has called her in as an expert to help Draco Malfoy track down a stolen sliver of his heart.

Kismet By Any Other Name by bastet_dreams - E, 4 chapters - Draco's curiosity sets him on a path of collision with none other than Hermione Granger 💫

Across the Void by oceanxpoppy - E, one-shot - It's been years and the war drags on. Within the chaos, Hermione and Draco have hidden away their relationship, kept their love a secret even from each other as they wait for the perfect moment that may never arrive.

My soulmate is who? by grangermalfoy07 - M, WIP - Two years after the war, Hermione and Pansy find tattoos on their body. Specifically soulmate tattoos. The problem? Their soulmates are who they least expect.

Loquacious by AccioMjolnir - T, one-shot - Every time Hermione Granger crosses paths with Draco Malfoy, the strangest thing keeps happening.They keep talking.

I’ll Keep it With Mine by hawthornandwine - M, WIP - Draco’s mark appears when he turns eighteen.He has been in Azkaban for a week, following an expedited trial led by the surviving elders of the Order, as both the Wizengamot and the ministry still scramble to pick up the pieces. No matter how dubious and biased the trial, the verdict is iron-clad and given the stamp of approval by the ministry. Draco has been sentenced to 20 years.When his mark appears, Draco’s heart sinks. He had hoped to be one of the luckier ones, the few Malfoys that lived a life without a mark and a destined mate. It doesn’t help that the initials on his wrist belong to the girl he’s been half in love with since age 11, since September 1st, 1991. That they belong to the girl he’d been forced to watch writhe and scream as she was tortured in his home.HJG. Hermione Jean Granger.

Where I end and you begin by Vofastudum - M, WIP - "She's been bitten. And the bond he has tried so hard to block from his consciousness forces itself alive.He can feel her heartbeat in his system. Much slower than it's supposed to be. He can sense her in every nerve. Feel every wound and bruise and broken bone.There’s no room for denial anymore; She's his soulmate. And she's dying."Hermione becomes a werewolf and Draco is her mate. If only she knew that.

The Beast of Wiltshire by Ridley_bean - E, one-shot - Something is lurking in the night and terrorizing Wiltshire.Can Theodore Nott, channeling the power of tennis legend Billie Jean King, solve the mystery and save the day? Can he simultaneously throw a fantastic party? Maybe do the party first and address the beast later.Will Pansy Pansy Parkinson find her match in an unfortunately ginger companion, or is she destined to start her late in life lesbian phase at the tender age of 26?And is that a rash on Blaise Zabini's groin, or is it just razor burn?Also, it appears a group of wizards cast a spell, and Hermione Granger may be Draco Malfoy's soulmate. If he believed in any of that nonsense.Welcome to the Summer of Love.

In Memory by sarsalvachester - T, one-shot - A few glimpses lucky witnesses got to see of their love.

and the red on my face is matching you by itsteryn - E, one-shot - He laughed. So harshly it almost brought tears to her eyes. “You think you’re dying, Granger? You know nothing about dying.”

Threads of Gold by CSIsui - G, WIP - He sees her now.Amidst the blood, smoke, and debris of war, there she was. In front of him. Again. He knew they would meet again. Regardless of how far apart they become, regardless of the distance between them. They will always come back to each other. Always.

Sun and Moon by pinkhairandbooks - M, one-shot - August 11, 1999 - Total Eclipse The first Total Solar Eclipse that Hermione experienced as the new Sun was the moment her life changed. She had recently said goodbye to her predecessor and knew that the Moon had done the same, so she was eager to meet the other half of her sky, imagining she was relatively young like herself and that they could become friends. She certainly did not expect to come face-to-face with him.When he saw her for the first time he was dazzled. When she saw him for the first time she felt as if a piece of her soul had returned to its proper place, although she did not even realize that it had shifted from the beginning.

In The Third Time by dorothymalfoy - T, one-shot - Three lives, three chances. Will our favourite couple finally manage to get their timing right?

HP Soulmates Fest 2.0 2024:

The Bequest by UnaOrion - E, WIP - Before his death, Albus Dumbledore made a bequest to the students of Hogwarts, who spent their youth fighting the second Wizarding War. Each returning student will receive a soulmark on their next birthday, matching the person with whom they are the most compatible in all the world. The returning Eighth Years navigate a restructured school and the uncertain landscape of their soulmarked hearts. Can the new Head Boy and Head Girl survive the year and each other?Ten years later, Hermione Granger has a flourishing career but never found her soulmate. All her friends are paired off and have started families of their own. Resigned to her fate, Hermione seeks a charm to suppress her deepest desires. The magic at play is rare, complex, and demanding. Is there a cure for an unfulfilled heart?

By A String by annaisfine - M, WIP - Legend has it, there is an invisible red thread that connects us to those we are destined to meet. Regardless of time, place or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.— The Red Thread of Fate

It's always been you by grangermalfoy07 - M, WIP - 11 year old Hermione is excited about joining her older brother at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry with her friends, Hermione comes to learn about more than just magic. Friendships are tested and a soulbond is discovered.

(Not) Just Another Option by GreenInk_RedLetters - T, one-shot - What is a soulmate? That seemed to be the question of the hour.Hermione Granger needs to know what a soulmate is and GASP seemingly the one person with answers happens to be her friends' childhood nemesis. What's a witch to do?AKA, a public soulmate revealing ceremony where shocking reveals lead to less-than-shocking alliances.

The Voice of an Angel by juicemph - E, WIP - Hermione finally convinces Draco to talk to her during sex, the fact that they are soulmates makes the results very interesting.

Pausing to Breathe by OrangeCrush282 - G, WIP - When two soulmates' eyes meet for the first time as adults, time stops. In the middle of the Battle of Hogwarts, at his lowest point, Draco finds her.

A Song of Two Souls by dorothymalfoy - M, one-shot - Soulmate songs are said to be rare, but also extremely common. There are several documents, some research thrown in there for good measure, but first-hand accounts are scarce, and valued, and kept in the most secret of vaults. That's how it was... Until now.

This fest is ongoing.

[romione-trope-fest]

Something to Believe In

Fic Title: Something to Believe In

Author Name: voldemorts-tap-shoes/smjl

Selected Trope: Soulmates

Brief Summary: An unusual witness sparks a disagreement between Ron and Hermione about the existence of soulmates.

Word Count: 5286

Rating: M

Any Trigger Warnings: non graphic discussions of death and murder, mentions of suicide

***

Hermione hunches over the desk, her eyes skimming the familiar words for what feels like the thousandth time. Victim: Brendan Hughes. Found alone in his flat. Avada Kedavra. Nothing peculiar about the scene. No witnesses.

She can’t remember the last time she was this frustrated by a case. They’ve been working on this one for over a week with absolutely no forward progress. Any leads they had were exhausted as dead ends within forty-eight hours, so she’s sent Dean and Seamus out to do yet another canvas of the victim’s neighborhood, hoping to find something, anything they might have missed. Meanwhile, she’s back at the DMLE poring over the paltry case file, looking for any insignificant detail that may offer a clue as to what happened.

Ron returns from his coffee run and flops into his usual chair beside her. He sets two paper coffee cups on her desk, the smell of the hot beverages warring with his woodsy cologne over which is the more intoxicating scent. “Anything?”

Forgoing her usual no-caffeine-after-four-pm rule, Hermione takes a large sip of the coffee. If nothing else, letting the nutty aroma hit her nostrils might help distract her from her partner-in-crime-fighting.

“No, nothing,” Hermione replies with a sigh. She flips the case file shut and hands it to him. “Maybe you can work your magic on it. See if there’s a story in there somewhere.”

The pages flutter as Ron gives a perfunctory rifle through them. “I’ve tried. But this is seriously the most boring case ever. Even the bloke’s life was boring. Maybe he Avada’d himself just for something to do.” His blue eyes flicker up at Hermione, pursing her lips in thought, and he laughs. “You’re not really going to check his own wand, are you?”

“Well, it’s about the only thing we haven’t checked,” Hermione says defensively. “You never know.”

“Hopefully Dean and Seamus will turn something up.” Ron sets the file down and Hermione reaches for it again immediately, even though it won’t tell her anything she doesn’t already know. She scans the words again, willing them to make sense in her head. Ron, now idly twirling a quill around his fingers, seems to have abandoned all effort to do any work on the case—not that he actually works here in the first place. He’s generally more helpful than this, but they also generally have more to go on.

Hermione is about to surrender for the day as well, when the sound of heavy, booted footsteps alerts her to someone approaching her desk. “Detective Granger?”

She looks up to find one of the junior Aurors approaching her desk and does a quick glance at the shiny badge pinned to the younger man’s uniform. “Yes, Auror Casey? How can I help you?”

Casey motions to the far side of the room, where a witch about her age is waiting. She’s bundled up in a heavy coat and several scarves, though the weather is mild today, and dabbing at her red-rimmed eyes with a handkerchief. “I think you’ll need to talk to this woman.”

“Auror Casey,” Hermione starts, trying to temper the irritation in her tone. It’s not his fault that she isn’t making any progress on her case, but the interruption isn’t going to help. “They’re still teaching you how to take witness statements in the Academy, I presume?”

“Of course.” The young Auror straightens his spine as if to prove his merit. “But she, uh…she says she witnessed that murder you’re working on.”

Ron, who had been tipped back in his chair staring at the ceiling, sits up abruptly, and the legs of the desk chair make a resounding clatter against the tile floor. “That’s great news!” he exclaims. “I mean, not for her, of course, but you know.”

Hermione shoots him a brief but withering look before she turns back to Casey and lowers her voice. “None of our evidence suggests that there were any witnesses to the crime. Are you sure she’s credible?”

She’s never one to turn up her nose at a lead, but Hermione also has no patience for wasting DMLE resources on false claims. For a witness to suddenly come out of the woodwork, she can’t help but be suspicious.

“We haven’t released any details to the press,” Casey replies. “So if nothing else, she knew our victim.”

Hermione sighs but shifts her gaze back to the woman and offers a reassuring smile. It’s not like she has any other work to do on this case, anyway. “Could you set up Ms…?”

“Davis,” Casey supplies. “Lizzie Davis.”

“Set her up in interrogation, please. We’ll be there in a minute.”

While Auror Casey escorts their new witness into one of the interrogation rooms, Hermione gathers up her notes and some fresh parchment to prepare for questioning. When she turns to Ron to ask if he’s ready to go, the amused look on his face stops her short. “What?”

“This is the least excited I’ve ever seen you about a lead,” he teases. “What’s wrong?”

Ron knows her entirely too well. It’s a wonder she’s able to hide anything from him anymore. “I suppose this case has just brought out my inner pessimist.”

“Inner?” he snorts, and Hermione narrows her eyes at him..

“The whole thing has been one giant dead-end,” she huffs. “My gut is just telling me this will be more of the same.” Hermione shrugs and gets to her feet. “But let’s go find out.”

***

The conversation begins the same way Hermione always starts her witness interviews, with basic information about the person in front of her. But she only gets one question further—how do you know the victim, still an easy one—before she’s completely thrown. Her pen hovers over the parchment, halted from writing the answer as she stares back at the woman across the table. “I beg your pardon?”

“He’s my soulmate,” Lizzie repeats, but the words don’t make any more sense the second time.

“You mean you were involved with Mr. Hughes?” Hermione clarifies. “Romantically?”

Lizzie shakes her head, her eyes wide. “Oh, no, we never met.”

Never met? How in Merlin’s name would this woman have any idea that their victim is her soulmate if they never even met? More importantly, how is she supposed to have witnessed his murder? Hermione sighs heavily. This is a waste of her time, just like she was afraid of. “Ms. Davis—”

Before she can get the words out to conclude the interview and offer her opinion on wasting law enforcement resources, Ron’s hand darts out under the table and squeezes her leg just above the knee, dumbfounding her into silence. The witness momentarily forgotten, Hermione turns her head to gape at Ron, but his attention is elsewhere.

“That’s terrible,” he says sympathetically to Lizzie, leaning forward to offer the woman a fresh handkerchief with his other hand. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It is,” she agrees, taking the kerchief as a fresh round of sniffles surfaces. “Thank you.”

While Lizzie swipes at her teary eyes again, Ron looks pointedly at Hermione. Her shock at his unexpected touch has given way to indignation, and she merely quirks an eyebrow back at him. He’s on his own if he wants to play good cop to her bad cop.

Taking the hint—and finally removing his hand from her leg, leaving it cold—Ron turns back to their witness. “Had you been aware of your connection to Brendan for very long?”

“Brendan,” Lizzie sighs with longing, and Hermione forces herself to hold back an eye roll. “No, I don’t think I realized it until he was gone. But then I just knew.”

“You felt his absence?”

Lizzie nods, clutching a hand to her heart. Ron slides the parchment and pen out from underneath Hermione’s clenched fingers to jot down a note before continuing his questioning. He’s been with her—working with her, she corrects herself—long enough now to conduct a decent interrogation without her guidance, but it’s hard to consider it a worthwhile contribution to the case when the person they’re interviewing is clearly delusional.

“You told Auror Casey that you witnessed the murder,” Ron prods, bringing them back on topic. “Did you have plans to meet Brendan?”

“Meet?” Lizzie asks, puzzled, then repeats, “No, like I said, we never met.”

Ron shoots a questioning look at Hermione as he touches the corner of the case file. She gives him a brief nod in answer, prompting him to reveal, “He was killed in his flat.”

“Yes.” She seems neither surprised nor confused by this fact.

“So…you were there?”

“No. But I saw it.” Lizzie taps her temple with a slender finger.

It’s clear that despite Ron’s silent request to continue the interview, he’s struggling to make sense of what they’re being told. Hermione can practically hear him in her head as he turns to her again with a pleading look. A little help here?

Hermione smirks back at him. She’s your witness now.

Ron takes a deep breath and slides the parchment back to Hermione, who picks up the pen again, ready to take notes on the off chance that Lizzie says anything worth retaining. Ron folds his arms against the table, the muscles in his forearms belying a tension that isn’t evident in the patience of his tone. “Let’s start at the beginning,” he suggests softly to Lizzie. “Why don’t you take me through the last two weeks?”

They spend another half hour with Lizzie Davis despite the interview being filled with increasingly ridiculous claims, and Hermione is not at all sorry to see the lift doors close behind her. She finally lets her eyes roll skyward as she turns to head back to the office. “What an absurd waste of time,” she grumbles as they walk. “Hopefully Dean and Seamus had better luck.”

“What are you talking about?” Ron counters. “She told us who the killer is!”

Hermione stops and glares up at Ron. And here she was, thinking what a good job he had done with a very difficult witness. “You’re not serious.” Ron just blinks at her, and she folds her arms tight across her chest. “Mark Richards—whoever he is—is not a killer. And do you know how I know that? Because Lizzie Davis did not witness Brendan Hughes’s murder.”

Ron puts his hands on his hips, readying his stance for an argument. “Even if she just made up a name to give us, she knew how the victim was killed.”

“He was killed with a killing curse,” Hermione reminds him. “It’s not exactly an earth-shattering guess. And you said it yourself, this case is boring. The crime scene was boring. The details are boring. We could drag any person in here off the street, and they could tell us what happened with as much accuracy as Lizzie did.”

“But it’s not a story for her,” Ron insists. “She knew because they’re soulmates. She felt it.”

“Oh, for Merlin’s sake, of all the ridiculous—there’s no such thing as soulmates.” Hermione starts walking again, in the opposite direction of the DMLE this time with her new target being the coffee cart in the Atrium. She’s going to be awake half the night at this rate, but she needs something stronger than tea to deal with Ron’s outlandish theories.

“No such—” Ron cuts himself off, looking flabbergasted as he follows her. “How can you say that?”

“Honestly, you’ve known me for how long now?” Hermione pauses to order her usual hazelnut coffee from the witch at the cart. “You can’t be shocked by this.”

“I can and I will be,” Ron replies indignantly. He orders a triple espresso, and Hermione shudders at the thought of all that caffeine. “You really don’t believe in soulmates?”

“Oh, come on, you know I don’t believe in Divination and all that rubbish,” she says. “And soulmates? The idea that there’s just one single person out there for everyone—that your match, the person you’re meant to spend your life with, has been predetermined for you—that doesn’t sound crazy?”

“I’m just saying, we’re surrounded by magic.” Ron gestures around them—at the fountain that flows without plumbing, at the interdepartmental memos fluttering past every which way, at the coffee pot that pours itself. “Soulmates is just as crazy an idea as anything else, isn’t it?”

“This from the man who I have seen roll his eyes on multiple occasions about Rose’s mum’s research,” Hermione points out. “So, sure, I’ll give you that one. Soulmates are at least as crazy an idea as the crumple-horned—what is it?”

“Snorkack.”

“Yes, that. And just as likely to exist.”

“So, not at all, you’re saying?”

“Correct.”

They take their drinks from the cart and start back toward the DMLE. “I’ll be the first to admit that Luna has some…interesting pursuits,” Ron concedes, and Hermione snickers. “But soulmates! It’s the magic of love! How can you not believe in that?”

“Okay, let’s say they are real,” Hermione ventures. She’s not sure why she’s even entertaining this argument other than to pass the time back to the Auror offices, though she always enjoys sparring with Ron. “Do you believe everybody has one?”

Ron shrugs. “Nah.”

“Really?” That surprises her. She’s not well-versed in the finer details of Soulmate theory, but the general concept seems to lend itself to a sort of universality. Why wouldn’t everyone have a soulmate if anyone had one? “Then what’s the point?”

“Okay, it’s like Seers. Our Divination professor at Hogwarts—fuck, you would’ve hated her—she made, like, three real prophecies in her life. Real ones—they’re downstairs if you want to go check.” Hermione rolls her eyes again but motions for him to continue. “But then, she was always predicting that Harry was going to die and shit, and obviously none of those ever came true.”

Hermione laughs at the absurdity of his explanation. “I’m sorry, are you trying to explain why soulmates are real by telling me what absolute nonsense Divination is?”

“Divination is only ninety percent nonsense. That’s the point.”

“It’s a terrible point.”

“Okay.” Ron stops and snags Hermione’s elbow, pulling her around to face him. “Where do you draw the line, then? Soulmates can’t be real, but your gut has magical properties?”

“My gut was right about that interview,” Hermione argues as she shakes out of Ron’s grasp and starts walking again. “It was absolutely a waste of time.”

“We don’t know that yet. You haven’t even looked up this Mark Richards character.”

“We don’t even know he exists. Honestly, it’s more likely that Ms. Davis is our killer and she told that story to throw us off.”

“So, killer comes out of hiding and waltzes into the DMLE without a care in the world to lie to the Aurors about a crime she committed?” Ron rolls his eyes as he holds open the department door for her. “And you say my theories are ridiculous.”

“They are, and I’ll stand by that assessment forever.”

Dean and Seamus are waiting back at the office, and they both look up as Ron and Hermione enter. “What are you two arguing about now?” Dean quips.

“Do you think soulmates are real?” Ron fires back in answer.

“No,” Seamus says immediately. “But if Romilda asks, I never said that. She’s into all that Witch Weekly mumbo-jumbo.”

“‘Witch Weekly mumbo-jumbo’,” Hermione echoes, her tone gloating as she looks at Ron. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Ron glares back at her but sits down at Hermione’s desk to face her two partners. “Did you two find anything on the canvas?”

“Yeah, actually.” Dean opens his notebook and Hermione is immediately at attention. “We met one of our victim’s neighbors—he wasn’t home the last time we went door-knocking, so we must have missed him. Anyway, Mr. Richards said that—”

“Wait,” Hermione interrupts. Ron looks positively delighted, and it makes her insides squirm. “What is the neighbor’s name?”

“Richards,” Dean repeats. “Mark Richards.”

Hermione’s head spins. What are the chances?

“Go ahead.” Ron pokes her in the ribs, grinning annoyingly at her. “Say it’s just a coincidence.”

“It’s a common name,” she retorts instead, and Ron snorts indignantly.

“And Lizzie Davis is just a lucky guesser, I suppose.”

Seamus raises his hand as if they’re in school, and the confusion on his face matches Dean’s. “Who’s Lizzie Davis?”

“Nobody,” Hermione says firmly as Ron answers, “Our victim’s soulmate.”

Dean’s eyebrows knit together as he slowly closes his notebook again. “Maybe you two should fill us in on your afternoon first,” he suggests.

Ron, still smirking triumphantly, motions for Hermione to answer. She heaves a sigh and explains, “A woman came into the office claiming to have witnessed the murder. She told us this whole silly story about how she and Brendan were soulmates but they never met, and she saw his murder in her mind because of their ‘ethereal reciprocity’.”

Dean and Seamus both erupt in laughter, and Ron’s face falls. “You, too?” he questions, then sighs dramatically. “I’m surrounded by skeptics.”

“Okay, wait, but how does Mark Richards fit in?” Dean asks once they calm down. “Does this woman know him or something?”

“She, um—” Hermione can hardly bring herself to admit it, but it is awfully odd that their supposed witness could have pulled the name out of thin air, common or not. “She seems to think he’s our killer.”

Despite the disbelief  among them, Dean and Seamus both adopt a more serious expression. “We’ll see what else we can find on him,” Dean says. “Just in case.”

“You said you talked to him today, though?” Hermione prompts. “What did you find out?”

“Apparently our victim had gotten himself into a bit of gambling trouble with our old friend Ludo,” Seamus explains. “He borrowed some Galleons from Mark to pay off his debt.”

“Let’s see if Harry will put in a word with Mr. Bagman. Maybe Ludo wasn’t the only person Brendan owed money to.” The detectives scatter at Hermione’s instructions, and Ron props his hand on his chin to look expectantly at her. “Oh, stop,” she scolds. “I’m sure the neighbor is just a coincidence.”

Ron chuckles. “Mm-hmm. Just because you can’t explain something—”

“Yet,” Hermione interrupts. “I can’t explain it yet. But there has to be a connection with Lizzie Davis.” Ron opens his mouth to speak again, but Hermione jumps ahead of him. “A real connection. One we can prove.”

“Who needs proof when it’s such a great story?”

“Well, that’s why you’re the novelist and I’m the detective.”

Hermione walks over to Dean’s desk and picks up his notebook to flip through his notes from the afternoon. Ron’s brow furrows as he thinks, turning more serious as he watches her read. “Money is always an odd motive to me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, how does our killer expect to recover the debt from a dead person?”

“Fair point. I’m sure I’ll regret asking, but do you have a different theory?”

“Mark Richards is not the killer, but he’s involved with Lizzie Davis. Or was. Things ended badly, and so she decides to frame him for her true love’s murder.”

Hermione frowns. “And the actual killer is…?”

Ron shrugs, unbothered by the absence of this detail. “I dunno.”

“Why is Lizzie still mad at Mark about their breakup if her soulmate is someone else?”

“I dunno.”

“A brilliant theory, as always,” Hermione quips, and Ron sticks his tongue out at her.

“Have you got a better idea?” he retorts, his tone teasing.

“Sadly, no.” She replaces Dean’s notebook and grabs her coat off the back of her chair. “And on that absurd note, I think it’s time to call it a day. See you tomorrow?”

“C’mon, a magical love triangle? Now that is a classic motive.” Ron grins at her. “Just think about it.”

Hermione rolls her eyes as she heads for the Floo. “Goodnight, Ron.”

***

Rather than go straight home, Hermione decides to stop at Flourish and Blott’s before picking up dinner. The bookstore has an extensive section on Divination but relatively few books about soulmates. It seems like even within one of the most speculative branches of magic, the concept isn’t widely accepted. The lack of available reading material on the subject puts Hermione’s mind at ease a little. She doesn’t deal well with the unknown. She’s good with facts and evidence. And if there isn’t any evidence to prove the existence of soulmates, then she’s bolstered in her distrust of Lizzie Davis.

But as much as she doesn’t want to believe the how, there’s no denying that Lizzie knows something about their victim and the murder. It’s impossible that she was there—by her own account, she was vacationing in Tuscany during the entire week of the murder, and the Portkey logs corroborated her whereabouts—so she must have learned of Brendan Hughes’s death by some other means. Possibly even from the killer.

She’ll have to see what else they can find out about their apparently lovestruck witness. Like she said to Ron earlier, there has to be a connection. And an explanation. One that doesn’t involve ridiculous notions of the farthest-flung outlying beliefs of magic.

Until she finds it, though, Hermione is stuck with the inexplicable. She’s never believed in any of this stuff, even before her mother’s death turned her into the frosty cynic that all her friends and coworkers know. It always sounded so ridiculous, like something out of a child’s fairytale or a terrible romantic comedy on the movie channel. Then again, she never would have believed that magic was real either, if she weren’t living it. Maybe Ron is right.

Hermione scoffs at herself. Her thoughts always seem to drift back to him; maybe there’s something to that. Hand-in-hand with the idea of soulmates is the concept of fate, destiny. She had been working in the Auror department with Harry, Ron’s best friend in the world, for nearly two years before the copycat murders forced their paths to cross. Harry could have introduced them any time, but they only met by chance. What was that if not fate?

Not that she and Ron are soulmates—or even some less fantastical version of it. They haven’t even—she can’t bring herself to admit that she has anything but friendly feelings for him, and even those were a very slow thaw from the frozen facade she gave him at first. Every once in a while, she thinks that maybe he’s grappling with the same internal conflict. But if he is, he’s never acted on it. And if he had feelings for her, why wouldn’t he? Act on it, that is.

He could have—and has had, according to Witch Weekly—any woman he wants, though his appearance in the gossip pages has decreased significantly since they started working together. If he wanted more than their current partnership, Hermione would know.

Maybe that’s the problem with her lackluster love life. Soulmates are real, and she just hasn’t met hers yet. The thought releases an audible chuckle, and Hermione slides the book back into place on the shelf. How ridiculous.

Filled with a renewed sense of determination after a good night’s sleep, Hermione arrives early to the DMLE the next morning, surprised to find the office quiet. It’s not unusual for her to be in before Dean and Seamus—and definitely before Ron—but she would have thought given everything that happened yesterday, they might have wanted to get a jump on things.

Maybe they’re already out in the field. The light is on in the Head Auror’s office, so Hermione makes her way across the room to say hello and check in. Harry has his head bent over a case file—hers, it appears—but he looks up as she enters. “Morning, Hermione,” Harry greets her. “I was just about to owl you.”

“Have we had news about the Hughes case?” she asks excitedly as she sits across from him. “Did you speak to Ludo?”

“I did, but the case is closed. So you can take the day off, if you want.”

“Closed?” Hermione blinks in surprise. “How?”

“Well, Mr. Hughes’s gambling debt was a problem, but only for him. Padma’s ruling it a suicide.”

“You’re kidding.” She almost forgot about Ron’s quip yesterday afternoon suggesting just that before they met Lizzie Davis. “But it wasn’t his wand that we found at the scene.”

“Not his Ministry-registered wand,” Harry concedes. “But Padma checked the spell signature against his wand. He’s definitely the one who cast the AK.”

Harry hands her the case file, with Padma’s forensic report on top. Hermione reads over the test results as Ron’s voice sounds from down the hall, carrying easily across the empty office.

“Okay, I thought about it all night, and I’ve got a new theory. There’s not a huge dragon population in Italy, but they could definitely be using Tuscany as a stopping point along a more prolific smuggling route. Lizzie Davis doesn’t necessarily strike me as the courier type, but I can owl Charlie if you want, and—what?” Ron appears in the doorway halfway through his diatribe but stops short as he takes in Harry’s raised eyebrows.

“Looks like your first theory was spot-on,” Hermione tells him as she hands the file back to Harry to finish. “It was a suicide, after all.”

“Oh.” Ron frowns. “But what about Lizzie? And Mark Richards?”

Hermione shrugs. “I guess their illicit love triangle will have to remain a mystery.”

“But—well, can’t you get her on making false statements or something? It’s so unsatisfying when a case ends without an arrest.”

“So you admit that she was lying about being Brendan’s soulmate?” Hermione teases.

“Not about that, but she obviously didn’t witness his murder if he wasn’t murdered.”

Harry smirks. “We could, yeah. Hermione, you’re the lead on this case. Do you want to press charges on Lizzie Davis?”

“If I never see that woman again, it will be too soon.” Hermione rolls her eyes and brushes past Ron to leave the office. “Come on,” she says, tugging at his sleeve. “We can drown your disappointment in a plate of bacon and eggs.”

“Oh, now that’s not fair,” Ron complains, though he follows her without hesitation. “You know I can’t turn down breakfast.”

Once they’re settled in the Muggle diner across the street and Ron has ordered half the menu, the conversation naturally turns back to their now-closed case. “This one is going to haunt me, I just know it,” Ron says dramatically. “Lizzie Davis accused someone of murder. I feel like that deserves a little more digging. Even if there wasn’t actually a murder.”

“Do you really want me to press charges on her?” Hermione asks as she sips at her tea. “With everything she said, I’m inclined to believe she’s less a criminal mastermind and more so just mentally unstable.”

“Because you’d have to be mentally unstable to believe in soulmates?” Ron challenges.

“To be fair, I’ve known you were crazy since the day I met you, so your belief in soulmates doesn’t really move the needle.”

Ron smirks at her, and Hermione is hit with a feeling of deja vu. She likes to think she’s gotten to know Ron fairly well over the past two years, but the look he’s giving her reminds her of the early days of their partnership when he was always three steps ahead of her, and his next words confirm it. “I never said I believe in soulmates.”

“You—yes, you did.” As Hermione plays back their conversation from yesterday, though, she can’t pinpoint where he actually said it. He challenged her beliefs, and argued on behalf of Lizzie Davis’s, but not once did he admit to his own. Ron doesn’t even bother to contradict her now, just waits while she comes to the conclusion on her own. “You don’t believe in soulmates?”

“No.” Ron shrugs and reaches for the little bin of sugar packets, pulling out a handful and dumping them all into his coffee without even tasting it first.

“Then why were you arguing with me so much yesterday?” She knows the answer, of course: it’s just what they do. Finding out that they share this non-belief, though, has her more confused than ever.

“You’ve known me for how long now?” Ron shoots back, echoing Hermione’s question from yesterday. The rhythmic clinking of the spoon against the ceramic coffee mug as Ron stirs in his sugar makes Hermione grit her teeth in annoyance, but he misunderstands the gesture. “You’re not seriously mad at me, are you?” Hermione reaches across the table to still his hand, and he flashes her a sheepish grin as he sets the spoon aside. “Sorry.”

“So all the things you said yesterday—about Divination, and the ‘magic of love’, and crumple-horned snorkacks—you were just messing with me?”

“Not all of it. I believe in love.”

A snort escapes Hermione’s lips. “Has that line ever actually worked?”

“It’s not a line.”

As Ron lifts the coffee mug to his lips, Hermione searches his face for any sign that he’s once again taking the mickey, but finds none. Two years ago, when she met the presumed playboy seated across from her, she might not have believed that statement. But despite the—relatively few, compared to his reputation—women that have flitted briefly in and out of his life in that timeframe, Hermione doesn’t think she’s ever seen Ron Weasley in love.

Taking advantage of Hermione’s silence, he continues, “It’s all around you if you know where to look.” Ron tilts his head toward the counter, and Hermione turns just in time to see the waitress tuck an engagement ring back into the pocket of her apron with a fond expression before ducking back into the kitchen. At the end of the counter, an elderly couple are sharing a plate of pancakes, and Hermione smiles at them before turning back to Ron.

“There’s nothing magical about that, though.”

Ron chuckles. “If you don’t think so, you’ve never been in love.”

She hasn’t, but she’s not going to tell him that. She’s definitely not going to tell him how close she’s coming to falling in love now. “Have you?” she deflects, then immediately regrets it. She’s never given much scrutiny to Ron’s romantic pursuits, and she’s not sure how close she can get without getting burned. This current conversation feels dangerously close to the flames.

He lifts his coffee mug to his lips again, obscuring his expression so that all she can see are his intense blue irises over the rim. “Once.” He doesn’t offer any further details, and she doesn’t press. When he lowers the mug back to the table, he rotates it slowly between his hands, and Hermione finds herself entranced by the motion. “You have to at least believe in it, though, don’t you?” Ron asks, both of them staring at the dark brown liquid.

Her internal monologue from the bookstore last night floats back through her mind, mixing in with the present discussion. “In theory, I suppose.”

Ron laughs, breaking the tension of the moment. “‘In theory’,” he repeats teasingly, “listen to you.” The waitress reappears then and sets several steaming plates between them, but other than sliding a plate of toast to sit in front of Hermione, Ron ignores the food for a moment. “You know you can’t prove everything, Hermione,” he says, more serious than perhaps she’s ever seen him. “Soulmates aside, don’t you ever just feel like something is right?”

This. Us. You.

“Sometimes,” she says instead. “But I don’t always trust it.”

“You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. Trust yourself.” Ron tucks into his breakfast and then shoots her a wink across the table. “And believe in a little bit of magic.”

[aro-soulmates-fest]

Welcome to the Aro Soulmates Fest!

This is a pan-fandom event intended to put an aromantic lens on soulmate AUs: exploring soulmate stories that aren’t just about characters falling in love and getting together.

Timeline:

Prompting begins: Nov 26 Prompting closes: Dec 17 Fics Due: Mar 17

FAQ:

Are there submission requirements? Nope! Feel free to post drabbles, doodles, podfics, and anything else that you feel fits the theme/prompt.

What counts as ‘aromantic themes’? I’m keeping this broad - any exploration or rejection of the way soulmates hold up normative romantic ideals can count for this fic.

The two exceptions are writing poly soulmates and platonic soulmates, since those are also done often in fandom.

Examples:

a character rejects or leaves their soulmate

a character dating someone that isn’t their soulmate

a character that doesn’t have a soulmark

a character killing their soulmate

a character with an abusive soulmate

etc

Can I write romance? Do I have to write aromantic characters? Romance is allowed! As long as it meets above criteria - for example, exploring a romantic relationship between people that aren’t soulmates is allowed, but writing a character that gets together with their soulmate is not.

Can I participate if I’m not aro? Yes! See above.

Can I write original works? Yes! Note that works will be posted to AO3, but so long as you are okay posting your original work there, feel free to create what you like.

Help! I've never participated in a fest before! / How does prompting and claiming work? Please see AO3's Prompt Meme FAQ for more information!

-

Guidelines | Got Questions? | Give us prompts!

[taekookfests]

*:･ﾟ✧ taekook soulmate fest

↳ The Soulmate trope revolves around the idea of an alternate universe where a single soul resides in two bodies and the two individuals are fated to be together, either romantically or platonically; sometimes even through multiple lives. The soulmate trope usually involves some type of physical/pseudo-physical manifestation of the soul bond (red string of fate, matching tattoos, shared dreams etc.) but this is not mandatory.

↳ twitter • archiveofourown • currently resting

↳ fic reveals season 1

[hp-soulmates]

💞 HP Soulmates: R3D String Edition - August Weeks 1 & 2 Roundup 💞

Sorry for the delay! Here’s the Roundup for Weeks 1 & 2. We will be trying to post a Roundup every two weeks, so there will be another one coming this weekend. Please enjoy the first set of some amazing fics!

~ HP Soulmates Mods 💞

💞 [Fic] Invisible String (Tying You to Me) by MidnightStargazer | @midnightstargazer 💞 (T, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil, 2.3k)

Week 1: Red string | lightning era | fate

In the aftermath of her breakup with Ron, Lavender uses a divination ritual to reveal the red strings of fate and find her soulmate, desperate for a partner who can be trusted not to break her heart.

💞 [Fic] Clear The Clouds (& Your Doubt) by SquibNation10 💞 (T, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, 3.7k)

Week 1: Red string | lightning era | fate

Ron was proud of his girlfriend. Hermione Granger was among the top researchers in the Department of Mysteries. But then he finds out what she's researching...

💞 [Fic] Ink Stained Heart by GimletSour | @gimletsour 💞 (M, Pansy Parkinson/Harry Potter, 5.4k)

Harry’s got a one-way portkey to California and a date with a pretty girl lined up. Who knew finding your soulmate, even fourteen years late, could work out so well? ~ This is a direct sequel to Ink Stained Skin, and will feature Harry’s POV. I highly encourage you to read that one first!

💞 [Fic] Tied To Me With Crimson Knots by DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes | @drwhoisginnyholmes 💞 (M, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 2.4k)

Week 1: Red string | lightning era | fate

Harry’s fingertip laid bare, an unconnected hand, a silent thing, no red string in sight. Draco’s was bound, to a Muggle, once bright. But darkness came, and shadows spread. Voldemort’s hand left the Muggle boy dead. In that moment, fate took a twist, A red string formed on Harry’s wrist. From enemy to friend, perhaps to lover, Their destinies entwined, one to discover. Poem written by p0intless_p0et

💞 [Fic] Expelliarmus Red by Poljupci | @poljupci 💞 (T, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, 1.3k)

Week 1: Red string | lightning era | fate + Wildcard: Cross gen ship

Harry could have figured it out sooner if he dared to pay more attention. Maybe things could have ended differently, then. But like this, when the realisation comes while looking into Voldemort's eyes and waiting to be killed, the only thing he can do is accept that they've doomed themselves from the beginning.

💞 [Fic] Catch The Snitch (& Win Me Too) by SquibNation10 💞 (T, Cho Chang/Ginny Weasley, 3.5k)

Week 2: Rival Soulmates | rare pair | second chances

Ginny Weasley wished the world would stop bringing up her past. She just wanted to play for her favourite Quidditch Team. Cho Chang feels the same.

💞 [Fic] midnight train by prima_vera | @girl-with-goats 💞 (M, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, 6.5k)

Prompts: Fate | red string | second chances | soulmarks

Onboarding the midnight train in search of his client's soulmate, Harry Potter doesn't expect to find his own childhood friend—and soulmate.

💞 [Fic] The Thousand Acres Between Us by MarinaJune | @sailtomarina 💞 (M, Marcus Flint/Hermione Granger, 8.3k)

Week 1: Red string | lightning era | fate

Reunited after years apart following the war, Hermione can immediately see there’s something different about Marcus Flint. The boy she thought she knew came back a man, one she’s more than willing to reconsider. He’s older, obviously, broader, mysterious as always, and, most baffling of all, interested in her?

💞 [Fic] Seeker Practice by Poljupci | @poljupci 💞 (E, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, 1k)

Prompts: Rival soulmates | soulmarks & tattoos | snitch

Harry Potter is a good Seeker. The fact that catching their snitch of a soulmark gets both of them all hot and bothered is just some extra incentive.

[hp-soulmates-secret-santa]

SIGN-UPS ARE OPEN!!

Sign-ups for HP Soulmates Secret Santa are now open! Please read the Rules and FAQ before signing up. You can also read them before signing up on the main AO3 Collection page. If you have any questions about anything, please just ask! We're so excited to fall in love with soulmates over the holiday season again!

Sign-up HERE!

[solivagantingrebel]

Posted the second chapter of Bleeding Oath! We get Soap's perspective this time, and things get way out of hand for the both of them. Also, homoerotic (and violent) sparring.

[insightfulinsomniac]

OUT NOW: “Black Leather, Blue Lace” for the @titleandtropeficfest

8.5k; explicit

Summary: Two weeks ago, Louis met his soulmate on the way to his sister's birthday brunch. Now, it's finally time to introduce his - self proclaimed - "city girl" partner to his best friends and fellow farmhands. What better way to spend a summer evening with the people he loves than by hosting a bonfire, complete with s'mores and hayrides?

It's even better when your soulmate is an exhibitonist who agrees to fuck on the hayride under a blanket in front of all of your oldest friends.

******

aka: a pwp in which new soulmates farmer!Louis and city girl!Harry are filthy exhibitionists.

My submission for the Title and Trope Fic Fest! Huge thanks to the mods for letting me submit this fic quite late due to a mistake on my end!

I hope you all enjoy!

[larryaboworld]

BURNING SOUL

Words: 39k

A/B/O - Soulmate

Written for the @1daboficfest

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47462689

MATE.

“What?” He whispered to himself. His boots crunched into the dirt as he stepped out of Greyhound bus. The immediate energy he felt was safe, welcoming contentment. He hadn’t felt that in a long time. He squinted as he looked around the small city nestled in the mountains. Or was it a big town? A nearby green sign read “Seven Corners, Population 101,000”

____

Louis is a rogue Omega wolf, all he wants is a new start. Will he allow himself to fully embrace what awaits him, or will he run again, too damaged by past hurt?